Created on May 13, 2016

The DCA (Dallas Cinema Association) film is a collection of several amateur films taken throughout the motorcade. It was commercialized in 1964 in a 8-mm format.

Here is my “digitized” copy of the one that I bought. It is the only complete version on YouTube.

But the clearest version of the scenes taken in Dealey Plaza are in this one. It was captured off Robert Groden’s DVD called The Assassination Films.

As far as the assassination is concerned, the two most important films are the Martin film and the Mentesana film. It is often hard to tell who of Martin or Mentesana took what film. So I will stick to only the images I’m sure about. It is unclear if all the published films are complete. Possibly, the originals have remained unseen.

JOHN MARTIN

58-year-old John Martin filmed the motorcade on Main turning on Houston Street, and on Elm Street. The head shot is not shown as Martin stopped filming. That will be clear when you see the video. But the film shows crowd movement after the shots and the motorcade cars traveling down toward the underpass. He ran up the grassy knoll where he met, he was later told, a man of the Treasury Department. (The Pictures of the Pain, page 571). He remained around the Depository for about 10 minutes. In an FBI interview, Martin said he met an SS agent (TPOTP, page 572).

After this encounter, he went back to his office, and came back to the Depository at 12:50. At that time, he had used 25 feet of his 50-foot film. He started taking more film. He then thought he had finished the roll just to discover that only 25 feet had been taken because there was a crimp in the film, something he had never experienced before. (TPOTP, page 573). He remained at Dealey Plaza until 4 PM, talking to people.

Limo in front of the Depository

WFAA cameraman Couch filming from a car

WBAP cameraman Jim Darnell filming in the parking lot

Witness Amos Euins on the back of a 3-wheel vehicle driven by Officer D.V. Harkness

Depository Bill Lovelady in red shirt on the bottom-right

Witness Charles Brehm with patrolman Clyde Haygood

ERNEST CHARLES MENTESANA

He was a 45-year-old owner of a grocery (TPOTP, page 577). His film does not show the motorcade at all. But it shows various scenes taken several minutes after the shooting.

In front of the Depository. Firetruck and a white KRLD-TV car

Two officers on the 7th floor, That’s not the front of the Depository, but the East side of it.

Investigators discussing. One has a shotgun. Amateur photographer Jay Skaggs is on the left. He also took a photo of that scene. See below.